The 2010 deCordova Biennial exhibition is the newest iteration in deCordova's long history of showcasing contemporary art in New England. Beginning with the Artists/Visions exhibitions in 1989, which became the long-running deCordova Annual, deCordova has been committed to showcasing the works of regional artists for twenty years.

Now occurring every other year, The deCordova Biennial provides a sample of New England's contemporary art scene, emphasizing the quality and vitality of the art being made in this region. Occupying almost every gallery, nook, and crevice of the Museum—from our elevator to the rooftop terrace—this Biennial is the largest the Museum has ever undertaken. The seventeen featured artists this year—selected from hundreds that were considered—work across media and also span generations, acknowledging the rich and often overlooked history of our local producers.

While the show is not organized around a theme, there are some commonalities that emerge. Following the intergenerational make-up of the exhibition, time emerges as a prominent theme—either referring to the temporality of process or in the form of history as a cultural construction. Other artists address issues of politics and power, whether imaged in protest or in architecture. The built environment lurks in a number of sculptural installations and videos as emblematic of our recent economic crash and stand-ins for human culture, as other artists address the natural environment and our increasingly complex relationship to it. A maximalist, or complex visual aesthetic, seems to loom large over much of the painting and installation on view, although quiet nods to art's minimalist past appear throughout the galleries.

These are just a few of the threads that weave in and out of this exhibition, and many more will emerge over the course of the exhibition. It is the goal of this Biennial to showcase just a sliver of the talent, vision, and variety one can find in New England today.

The 2010 deCordova Biennial was organized by Assistant Curator Dina Deitsch, with the assistance of an Advisory Board: